According to Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), Statoil is planning to sell its stake in the West Qurna-2 oilfield in Iraq. According to an Iraqi industry source, Statoil has asked Iraq’s Oil Ministry for permission to sell its stake and that the deal was in its “final stages” as on 2-Feb-2011. Continue reading here..
Major companies such as Shell, Chevron, Total, Repsol, Statoil, Novatek and Cairn, amongst others have been expanding their exploration activities in and around the Arctic Sea. Continue reading here..
Derrick Petroleum's "Deals in Play' database has recorded $2 - $3 billion worth of Eagle Ford Shale assets for sale as on July 2011. The Eagle Ford Shale is becoming prized property for oil and gas companies in 2011. The shale play area starts at the Texas-Mexico border in Webb and Maverick counties and extends 400 miles toward East Texas. The play is 50 miles wide, an average of 250 feet thick at a depth between 4000 and 12,000 feet, and has high carbonate content making it easier to fracture than other shales. In addition, it is also more liquid rich than other shales. The $/acre of the shale has been increasing rapidly over the last few years due to increasing successes of companies exploring this play. The high present $/acre relative to previous years is also bringing capital to firms who want to sell non-core Eagle Ford assets to focus on their core assets.
The following table from Derrick Petroleum’s ‘Deals in Play’ database shows opportunities available with respect to Eagle Ford assets as on 4 July 2011.
Table 1: Is an interactive chart/ table showing data recorded from Derrick Petroleum's 'Deals in Play' database. Only deals above $10 million are shown. Net undeveloped acres have been sorted from highest (up) to lowest (down). Subscribers can click on the relevant bar to view detailed information from the database.
The following table shows recent transactions involving the Eagle Ford Shale for insight into its recent $/Acre.
Table 2: X axis shows Buyer-Seller. Y axis is deal value. $/acre is given above the bar's in the chart. Data is sorted by month and quarter. Only deals above $100 million in Q1 and Q2 2011 have been shown. Click on the bars for more detail on individual deals.
Analyst Comments
1. Total deal value involving Eagle Ford shales has been among the highest relative to the other US shales.
2. Number of deals involving Eagle Ford shale have been the highest so far in 2011 as compared to other shales (~25 deals), as recorded in Derrick's Deals database.
3. Eagle Ford shale looks set to dominate the deals market for unconventionals in 2011.
Norwegian oil giant Statoil ASA will spend $32 billion on exploration and production over the next two years as it aims to ramp up production to above 2.5 mmboepd over the next decade. Statoil, which produces about 80 percent of Norway’s oil and gas, is expanding abroad to maintain output and boost reserves amid dwindling production from aging North Sea fields. The company plans to double oil output in Brazil in less than a decade, and is seeking to add to its portfolio.
In addition to continued focus on production from operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCF), Statoil said the increased output will come through strengthened positions in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, Angola, the Caspian region and Arctic Sea, while also stepping up production of shale gas and liquids. "The NCF remains a very attractive and globally competitive province for future oil and gas activities," said, Statoil Chief Executive, Helge Lund.
As well as conventional oil and gas operations, Statoil is developing the Eagle Ford shale field in southwestern Texas through a joint venture with Talisman Energy Inc. and the Marcellus shale region together with Chesapeake, which includes northern West Virginia across Pennsylvania and parts of New York.
View the Eagle Ford Shale deal snapshot here:
Source: The Derrick E&P Transactions Database Growing Market:
Statoil will “benefit from our strong gas position in a growing gas market,” said Lund. Oil and gas from sites along the Norwegian coast will account for about 1.4 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2020, the company estimated. The international portfolio, which will also include non-Norwegian Arctic sites and the Caspian region, is forecast to produce about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day, Statoil said.
The company will spend $16 billion on exploration, drilling and production in 2012, on par with what it will spent in 2011. Statoil expects to drill 20 to 25 high-impact wells in the years 2011 to 2013.
The company in February 2011 forecast output will grow on average 3 percent in each of the next two years, to about 2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, below a former target of 2.06 million to 2.16 million barrels. "The positive is that they are announcing growth internationally to 1.1 million barrels in 2020, and they are quite specific about that, given that they haven't quite delivered recently," said Trond Omdal, an analyst at Arctic Securities.
Exploration would be about $3 billion this year, up from about $2.5 billion in 2010 when the company trimmed spending in the wake of the global financial crisis, Tim Dodson, head of the company's exploration arm, told Reuters.
Reserves have been in decline, with a replacement ratio of just 87 percent in 2010 and 73 percent in 2009. Oil and gas production in Norway, which accounts for about half of the company's total output, is expected to be above 1.4 million boed in 2020, the level it produced in 2010.
Statoil's Exploration Portfolio for 2011 and 2012:
PTTEP could spend $45 billion to boost petroleum reserves
over the next 10 years and may consider a share issue to fund the investment.
PTTEP expects its petroleum reserves to reach 3 billion
barrels of oil equivalent (boepd) by 2020. 'In the next 10 years, PTTEP will
need up to $45 billion. Company is short of about $11-12 billion, may look at
financial options to raise more funds.
PTTEP to focus on
South America and Africa
PTTEP has petroleum reserves of just 1.1 billion boepd,
Company may buy more assets overseas to boost reserves and meet the country's
energy needs. PTTEP is exploring business opportunities in new areas of South
America and Africa, with a view to turning the areas into the company's third
business pillar, following Thailand plus Burma and Australia plus Canada.
The company's success in collaborating with Norway's national oil company
Statoil in the Kai Kos Dehseh (KKD) oil sands project in Canada late last year
is the inspiration behind further expansion of oil and gas exploration and
production overseas.
PTTEP's existing operations were now
very strong and stable. Key oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf
of Thailand and Burma, comprises many fields, such as Thailand's Sirikit,
Bongkot and Arthit and Burma's Yadana and Yetagun.
PTTEP is making its presence felt in Australia and Canada. Production at the
Montara field off Australia is expected to resume by the end of this year,
while Canada commenced production early in the year.
The company is looking to invest in other Canadian exploration and production
projects with Statoil, with the two businesses having just inked an agreement
to cooperate in this area.
PTTEP has set a target to have a production capacity of 900,000 barrels of oil
equivalent per day [boe/d] by 2020. The production sites they have right now
will produce half of the target by that year. Therefore, company would look for
new projects to help us accomplish the goal.
The company presently aims to produce and sell nearly 300,000boe/d of oil and
gas, while the KKD project is expected to have a capacity of 150,000boe/d by
2020. KKD is scheduled to produce 8,000boe/d by the end of this year, rising to
80,000-100,000 within the next five years.
The company president said PTTEP had divided its projects into three groups:
those that are already generating revenue; those that are going to generate
revenue; and projects in which it has to invest for the exploration stage.
The new projects PTTEP is seeking may be greenfield sites or existing projects.
The latter type of deal is more likely to be concluded, as the company needs
projects that can generate revenue immediately, Anon (President) said.
"We're looking for many deals in South American countries such as Brazil,
and some in Africa. These are unfamiliar areas for PTTEP, so we have to
consider everything carefully. We need partners if we want to grow in these
regions, compete with existing players and learn new things in which we are not
experts," he said.
Statoil and KazMunayGas signed the Heads of Agreement on the Abay block in the Kazakhstani sector of the Caspian Sea.Under the HoA, the parties plan to conduct evaluation of the hydrocarbon potential of the Abay block in the Northern Caspian Sea. Statoil and KazMunayGas will jointly establish a company that will serve as operator of the project. The exploration work programme will cover seismic surveys, data acquisition and the drilling of one exploration well.
“Joint cooperation in the Abay block is an important strategic step for Statoil as we continue our international growth. This agreement marks an important milestone in Statoil’s re-entry into Kazakhstan and I am very pleased that we have strengthened our partnership with KazMunayGas,” says Tim Dodson, executive vice president for Exploration in Statoil.
The "Abay" block is located 65 km from the shore, at a water depth of 8-10 meters. Its reserves are estimated at 387 million tonnes (2.8 billion barrels).
In addition to the work programme the joint operating company will participate in social investment projects including training of local personnel. Statoil will provide financial and technical assistance to KazMunayGas’ project to build, own and operate a jack-up drilling rig for the use in the Caspian Sea.
“We are interested in cooperation with Statoil in attracting and using their experience and technologies in operating international offshore oil and gas projects”. The HoA signing confirms the intentions of the parties about the strategic partnership of our two companies on the joint activities in the Caspian Sea” says Kairgeldy Kabyldin, Chairman of the management board of JSC NC “KazMunayGas”.
